In Bangladesh, women’s rights group Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) has expressed concern over the growing numbers of anti-women fatwas issued by Islamic clerics, according to a Bangladeshi website.

The BMP has made a proposal to stop recurrence of incidents in which Bangladeshi women are subjected to torture and harassment through illegal public punishment as a result of fatwas.

The six-point proposal includes a call for a halt to the medieval system of fatwas and for laws against such edicts.

According to the report, BMP President Ayesha Khanam called upon all citizens, irrespective of political opinions, to raise their united voice to sentence those who issue such fatwas to exemplary punishment.

According to the report, the BMP leaders also demanded that lawmakers and government officials be trained in the issues of human rights for women and equality of gender.

Source: www.theindependent-bd.com, Bangladesh, June 16, 2009